When your heart has been
kept in a cage for so long
and the prison guard
finally sets it free
it will hurt and ache
around the edges until you
realize it isn’t heartbreak
it’s you regrowing your wings.

We sat around the table
to talk of ghosts long dead
and as we spoke our breath
disturbed the layer of dust
that had settled on our memories
clearing transparent patches
that we delved deeply into
not realizing that the grime
was a reminder that the past
should sometimes be left untouched.